beauty buys for aug '10

Yup, I'm just gonna be straighforward about my shopping expeditions now. No more kitschy, kooky, trying to be smart titles to disguise a post about my shopping habits. I mean, seriously, the majority of the time, I talk about lusting over things or actually buying them so I might as well not beat around the bush and get to the point, don't you agree?

And after that long-winded intro, here is moi getting to the point. As many of my purchasing exploits have shown, it all begins with a discount coupon. I can't resist a discount coupon. Strawberrynet was sad ('m not joking, that's what the email sent to me said - We are sad you haven't been shopping with us) I had not been buying from them since February of this year so they sent me a 5% discount coupon. Now, usually, I won't bat an eyelash at 5% cos that doesn't really encourage me to wield my credit card around when I don't have anything particular to get BUT I know that with this 5% discount on top of another 5% discount for buying 3 items and more as well as my loyalty discount - which is up to 7.5% now - I would get a total of 17.5% off of my total. And that's what spurred me to take a look at the site.

Ok, my sister had also been talking about restocking her Bliss skincare regime and I figured this would be the perfect time for her to get it. While waiting for her to come back with a list of the items she wanted, I did my own browsing. I didn't have anything in mind, really, but when I browse, I usually can find something :) And I ended up getting the three items below:


Seeing as I'm a big Benefit fan, I looked over the brand's selections on the site and saw that there was a promo for the concealer brush and the jumbo pencil sharpener. I don't have a concealer brush in my makeup tools repertoire and for USD12 before discount, I could part with that money, no questions. I've also wanted to get the jumbo sharpener for a long while cos I've had my Bad Gal eye liner for close to two years now and I've never managed to sharpen it. It's blunt and smudgy now so I'm hoping to rectify that with this purchase. And 2 pieces for the price of one - a sharpener costs 5 bucks on the Benefit website - I was definitely striking a bargain here.

Then I decided to have a looksie at some Stila stuff. I like Stila's makeup although not as much as Benefit's ;)I have a Stila eyeshadow trio that I absolutely love. And that I got off of Strawberrynet for just a lil over $7.50. So when I saw this Stila convertible lip color in blush bloom going for USD9.50, I thought definitely gonna get it! As the name suggests, it's a lipstick but can also be used as a blush. The shade is very in line with Autumn and is something that I don't own as most of my blushers are more in the pinkish/red hues than brown. I'm pretty excited to see how it'll look on my skintone.

And that was all I got. My total came up to USD22.96 after applying all discounts so I'm pretty happy with that. Anyways, I'm actually trying to cut down on the spending. It's hard considering I've been doing hard core shopping practically every month since I got that Miu Miu deerskin satchel and started my year of spending frivolously :D However, temptations abound and right now I'm in a quandry over this Material Girl (Madonna + Lourdes fashion line) pink lace mini dress from Macy's that's going for $21.99 now through Amazon.com. This is something I did want when I was trying to purchase my Unionbay cargo pants through the Macy's website but when I couldn't and had to go through Amazon, at the time the Material Girl line was not available.


Today, I just so happened to be browsing on Amazon and decided to see the Macy's Amazon storefront and on the face page of Clothing & Accessories, saw this dress. It originally costs 28 bucks but I guess Macy's is having a sale and has marked this cute dress down by about 6 dollars. Sigh. I am hesitating still but have a feeling I'll be giving in soonish. I just can't resist it, the outfit looks just so pretty! Oh, and saw the pants that I got and its now going for USD8.99. Went a bit nuts when I saw that but I figure, it's ok, at least the pants (along with my KMart stuff and my Newport News leather boyfriend blazer - which according to my sisters is totally gorge) will be waiting for me when I trek home next Sunday for my holiday. I cannot wait!

UPDATE:
LOL, didn't take long for me to cave and get the dress. Total paid inclusive shipping was USD27.95. Thought I'd give my AMEX a rest and put it on my MC :) Sigh. I really like the dress and I just could not help myself!

UPDATE (02/09/2010):

Sigh, sigh and add another double sigh. It's a bit shitty when you're all happy and giddy because your nice new pale pink confection of a dress has arrived but then you find out that right after you purchased it for the price of 21.99 American dollars, Macy's goes and slashes the price down to the bargain bin price of $11.99. That's 10 bucks difference, people, TEN BUCKS! Sigh, sigh and double sigh.....

that chilled white coffee was a bad idea

I've been on a major cooking kick these past two weeks since coming back from Homeland. I'm being creative and making things from the stuff in my fridge without doing what I usually do - planning out a meal before I enter the kitchen.

It's mainly just me trying to clear out my fridge considering, especially the veggies, I like to buy and they usually end up shriveled up and dry in my crisper.

The meals I've been coming up with are just simple things - soft wrap tortillas with paprika chicken and veggie filling and a sour cream and herb sauce, starter of simple garden salad and double decker tuna mayo sandwiches and a side of baked sweet potato fries, organic paprika-laden parma spaghetti. Basically, if you caught it, the running theme (as in main ingredients) are paprika and herb de provence :)

Anyways, tonight, I downed my gourmet hot dog and sweet potato fries with a tall mug of white coffee. And now, I cannot fall asleep. I am totally annoyed. I have been avoiding coffee for the past two weeks and had no trouble at all till today when I broke my coffee fast. Hence, the blame lies squarely at coffee's feet. White coffee's feet to be exact.

That is why, I'm on my blog rambling at 11:39 pm. Yea, yea, so for some people that's just the start of party time but I am getting up early for work tomorrow so I really want my beauty sleep or else my face is gonna turn into racoon eyes and pizza pie (that totally rhymes:))

Ok, gonna attempt to lay in the dark and hopefully fall asleep but before I do I just wanted to say that I have gotten all of my goodies - no, not these recent purchases but the ones from Gilt-Lush-RueLaLa-NewportNews-Amazon-eBay and am testing them all out. I'm majorly happy with 99% of 'em. There were perhaps two mishaps but I think I can work them out. I might, or will, give my thoughts on them after I've tested the stuff out a lil bit longer cos I really want to give the beauty products especially, a fair shakedown. I don't want to gush or hate too soon without giving a period of adjustment.

Anywho, toodleloo <- It's the coffee speaking *shakes head whilst rolling eyes at own dorkiness*

where are all my torrent angels?

Yes, yes and one more yes (and don't think dirty - or is it just me?). I am admitting point blank that I do, occasionally, use torrent sites to get a jump on my fave TV shows. I mean, how else am I supposed to watch all the shows that I read about online? Not everything shown on US TV ever reaches beyond their shores so there are times I have to turn to my dirty lil torrent sites to get my TV fix.

But somehow, they are not helping me get my Rachel Zoe hit. I mean, besides the first epi, which was delivered promptly, I have not been able to get the second episode and now that the third epi has aired, I dunno when the torrent will be out (if at all).

Therefore I have resorted to Youtube for my "The Rachel Zoe Project" fix. As much as I'm highly appreciative of the person who uploaded the 5 part breakdown of epi 2, I still wish I could find the torrent file for this episode. Nonetheless, 5 part-ers is better than none so through Keepvid.com, I'm downloading the episode and will queue them up in VLC so they play as one contiguous file.

Aside from that, the summer TV shows I am addicted to are The Good Guys (totally hilarious), Huge, Scoundrel (kinda crushing on Logan but not Cal - shows how nicely Patrick Flueger plays the twins), Dark Blue (am completely and totally in love with Logan Marshall-Green's character Dean Bendis; my obsession with emotionally inaccessible guys continues *rolls eyes*), Hells Kitchen, Pretty Little Liars (I kinda have a girl crush on Lucy Hale), Make It Or Break It (I like gymnastics), Rookie Blue (man, that Swarek is a hottie), Rizzoli and Isles (I like the two female leads - more so Rizzoli than Isles) and Haven (if it's about the weird, I'm usually interested).

Oh, and I've also been watching the second season of Jersey Shore *sheepish grin*. Ok, I find Vinny cute - especially when he's wearing his dorky glasses. And since we're being honest, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami has also been on my TV rotation. What can I say, in my defense, summer TV no-mans-land is to blame!

yay, yay and another yay for UPS

Since becoming an AMEX Platinum holder which has allowed me to shop, shop and shop (A LOT) on US-based e-tailers, I have been a regular UPS customer (not by my own choice, anyways).

Most online sites based in the good ol' US of A use UPS as their forwarder since it probably provides the cheapest means of shipping. Who knows, really...anywho...I have had a bumpy start to my relationship with UPS but now, I have to say, they have really stepped up their game and have outdone themselves delivering parcel after parcel to my Portland addy :D


Today alone, my comGateway addy will be receiving my sister's Newport News order (the one where I snuck in the leather boyfriend blazer for myself - as seen in the above photo, courtesy of the Newport News website), my three seperate KMart shipments and my Macy's/Amazon Unionbay cargos. In one morning! Geez, I love it!

So, UPS, thanks a lot for restoring my faith in your abilities to deliver on time (pun intended)!

it's my sister's middle child's birthday today.....

so I'm doing my usual birthday shoutout to my darling, stubborn and totally diva-esque five year old niece, Sophia. And here, we go.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SOPHIE POOPIE PIE!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!

I love you mucho, mucho, mucho much and I will get you something nice for a prezzie. Perhaps a baby doll since on my last visit back she was playing baby with her brother's Spiderman action figure :D

Anyways, I was calling the Homeland house early this morning so I could personally sing her her birthday tune but for the first 45 minutes, no one was picking up the house phone. Nor their mobiles so I was getting a bit pissy but then at around about 8 am their time, the phone was picked up by their nursemaid and she immediately passed the phone over to Poopie (not sure she's gonna be appreciating this nickname much once she gets old enough to understand the other meanings attached to this word) and she sounded all demure and sweet while talking to me - though she did mistake me for my elder sis (yet again). I think I'm pass the point of being offended. Sometimes the kids call me Mom and I just ignore them. Anyways, I sang her the requisite birthday song and we chatted for a bit but then I had to get ready for work and she had to go to her kindergarten class so that was that.

Can't wait to go back for my offical holiday next month! Miss all my surrogate kiddies :)

ok, perhaps shopping will stop after this!

Who am I kidding? Really? Why do I like to make bold proclamations to have them spat back in my face?

Ok, the reality is, I haven't gotten anything new as yet but I sure am tempted when I saw the following ad on one of my fave sample sale sites.


Mulberry For Target on Gilt!!!!! I can't help but be excited about it! The collection is meant to drop at Target on October 10 (or Oct 24, I forget which) but for some unknown reason, Target has teamed up with Gilt to offer Gilt members a first right of refusal (so to speak) to their Mulberry For Target collection.

The collaboration between the British luxury brand and Target was announced back in June and I was surprised to hear that a high profile name like Mulberry would actually make a diffusion line with a store like Target. Yes, I know, that's a snooty comment. But snooty or not, good on all of us cos now, those who never thought they could own a Mulberry piece can go ahead and own one! Apparently this collection will feature handbags made out of denim, velvet and canvas - no leather so as to keep the price point affordable whilst still maintaining the high quality craftsmanship of a Mulberry piece. I did read somewhere that the trimmings might be leather but since this capsule line has been very hush hush (no price range was even announced, just a mention of affordability) so first looks have been a no show.

I'm quite excited for this collaboration as I have enjoyed the two pieces I've gotten from Mulberry. I'm hoping there is a Bayswater handbag in this collection. Although I already own the East-West Bayswater, a full-sized Bayswater in canvas/denim would definitely make my handbag collection more interesting. Now, I've made it clear that if I'm paying top dollar for a handbag, I am damn well gonna be getting myself a leather piece so in this case, if it truly is affordable, I get to own a different material without paying monstrous amounts of money :D

So, just like I did for my Cynthia Vincent For Target Gladiator wedges in Cognac, I will be stalking the Gilt website this Friday at noon ET; the exact moment the event begins. Hopefully there'll be a piece that I'd like to own for a price that I'll like to pay!

UPDATE (19/08/2010):
The Mulberry For Target collection will be available at Target and Target.com beginning October 20th 2010. Thought I might as well get the correct date out there :) Also, saw some pics of what's on offer and currently, am loving the look of the blue denim and patent Bayswater best. Ok, I only managed to find two images of pieces from the collection and the other one was a velvet and patent Bayswater in black which, though looked quite nice, did not appeal to me as much - hence the "look quite nice" comment ;)

UPDATE (23/08/2010):
Right. How shall I word this in the nicest possible way - You Americans are just crazy and have mad online sample sale shopping skills that I simply cannot compete with! It wasn't even a minute, A MINUTE - I swear to God Almighty that I'm not lying about this, and EVERYTHING WAS SOLD OUT! I do not know how that happens because I was in that event right on the dot of noon ET and at the time that I clicked on the Large Denim satchel it appeared to still be available but the moment I added to cart, I was told it was sold out. And a minute hadn't even passed yet. So, I tried again. And again and again and again...the gist is gotten, no? Basically, I will be waiting for the collection to drop on October 10th (yes, I kept getting the release dates wrong) with the rest of the poor saps who were just as baffled as I was :) Crazy, I tell ya!!

lol, i have got to stop shopping, man!

Ok, I know it's my year of living frivolously but now that I'm at the point that I actually have to skip a month of payment because I don't have enough money, well, that basically is a red flag there.

Right, I have not stopped buying stuff for about three weeks straight. The cost for each transaction might not be a huge total but the various small amounts from myriad retailers add up to a lot of money I have to fork out!

I figured since I've been buying up a storm online that I wouldn't have anything to buy when I went back to Homeland this past week. Nope, apparently I just love to shop and buy stuff so much. On my first day back alone I managed to get a chambray ruffled tunic shirtdress and a drop-waist sheer long-sleeve tunic top totaling about 88 bucks. Then I needed to get all my drugstore necessities which amounted to about 100 bucks worth of stuff. I also got myself a faux leather obi belt for $23.20 cos it had a 20% discount. Then I went to Accessorize and got a vintage-y brooch and metal love-knot chain belt which cost me $83.80. I also got some health supplements for 100 smackaroos. This is of course not inclusive of food and entertainment.

Then I come back to Workland and somehow I manage to find more stuff to get. Today I went to Macy's and got myself 2 pairs of Unionbay skinny cargo pants in black and sand. I had been eyeing the pants a while back but then it cost around 25 bucks and I wasn't up to paying that much at that time so I just left it in my cart, totally forgetting about it. Then today, I just happened to be on the site trying to find something that I've forgotten about now when I saw I already had something in my cart. I clicked on it and saw the skinny cargos in black which were now going for $10.99. Hence, I decided I needed two and got another one in sand (tan). Then I realized I couldn't pull my faux-US addy trick with them so I went to Amazon.com to see if I could get the pants off of there. I could and I did - Macy's had them available for purchase via Amazon so I happily paid USD27.93 (inclusive of shipping $5.95) for my 2 cargo pants.


After that, for reasons unknown to myself, I decided to go to Sears.com. Oh, wait, I remember why I went to Sears - I had gone to the Unionbay site and saw that Sears was one of stores that carried the label and I wanted to check out if my pants were available there. Sears, Kmart, Landsend - they're all connected. Once I made sure I wasn't, I browsed. And browsed and browsed and finally ended up with the spread below.


I am a sucker for free shipping deals. I actually started out with the Bongo Military Jacket. Then I decided I wanted the Levi's Totally Slimming jeans. When I saw that I could get free shipping for orders $49 bucks and above, I started scouring KMart for items to round up my total. That's how I ended up with the Hanes sports bra and the Attention smocked sleeveless top. At that point, my total was a lil over 51 bucks. I decided to search for a coupon code and found the KMart5Off50 but if I applied that then I would end up having to pay for shipping. And thus began the quest to find something that would amount to roughly $2.04 - the total I needed to be able to get my free shipping and 5 bucks off my 50 dollar overall total. And this is what I go :P


In the end (oh, LP and by extension Rob Bourdon, I miss you guys so much, get that album out ASAP!), I paid just $49.24 for all of my items. I love when I end up paying less! That's the excitement of shopping for me!

So, right now, I've got all of the above being shipped to my Portland addy as well as 2 seperate Newport News orders cos I helped each of my sisters get something from the site. The bulk of the two Newport News stuff actually is theirs but I managed to sneak in 2 of the tunics I got from my first Newport News order but in different shades (black and persimmon this time) from one order and a black leather boyfriend blazer from the second order. The second order is on deferred payment till December so I should not be burdened by that but the two tunics I have to pay this month but it's just about $30.00 for the whole thing inclusive of comGateway shipping. The leather blazer was $84.48 total to ship to Oregon.

Yea, I know it's a lot of stuff so I really don't have any more money to spend frivolously. I do have things to pay for like my student loan, insurance and whatnot. It's time to actually take a break for a month. YOU-WILL-STOP-SHOPPING-ZLENA!

OMG, drama, drama and.....a lil less drama

I have been eagerly anticipating the first episode of season 3 of The Rachel Zoe Project. And it was completely worth the wait! I can't believe it, the shenanigans that was going on and I am a bit saddened by the events.


I knew about Taylor Jacobsen leaving the Rachel Zoe team but I always figured it was due to creative differences rather than anything else. It never crossed my mind that it had anything to do with mismanagement of company assets. I thought Taylor just finally couldn't wait for Rachel to move her on and up from her styling associate gig and left to do her own thing. And I do feel a pinch of betrayal on Rachel's part.

On the other hand, it is super great to see Brad rising to the occasion. I love Brad and it was great to see him excited to be made Rachel's new styling director. I was nervous for him to pull off the Harper's Bazaar shoot and am so happy he did. And it went on without so much as a whinge that we would have definitely heard if Taylor was on set.

Overall, a riveting first epi and now I'm having RZ withdrawal symptoms. I simply can't wait for next week's epi - it's the beginning of award's season!

what i found through google news that has me hooked

So, everyday, once I've logged into my Google account, I'll make my way to my personalized Google News page. It's basically just like the general Google News page except I have 2 additional sections.

Yesterday, after I was done going through my personalized news headlines (yes, the ones that include a special section for Kimi Raikkonen and Lee DeWyze), I happened to glance at the right side column, Spotlight, where they put the most popular news items. And that's when I saw an L.A Times article that caught my eye, "Teen 'haulers' become a fashion force".

Upon seeing the title, the first thought that flitted through my head was, "Teenage long-haul truck drivers are making fashion waves?". Yes, ok, I know it's silly that my mind went there, after all, longhaul trucking and fashion forward-ness, really? Really, Zlena? But it got me to read the article. I have to say, since that single click, I have managed to waste hours upon hours of my life going through the haul videos of Elle (21 yo) and Blair Fowler (17 yo), who started out simply as sisters from Tennessee but are now considered two of Youtube's most successful superstar video haul bloggers.

Now, I'm going to admit, at first I was completely clueless about this, let's call it, phenomena. What in the world are video haul bloggers? Oh, my question was answered and they definitely don't have nowt to do with long-haul trucking (well, unless we want to count the trucks that criss-cross America doing all the delivery). When I went to the sisters' individual Youtube channel, I found a mecca of how-to videos and personal shopping explanations. After watching tons, tons, of vlogs (that's video blogs for the uncouth), I've gathered that it's basically one person giving thousands of people a voyeuristic peek, via youtube-ing, into their shopping thrills and spills. Instead of a word and picture post of your shopping haul, these people video tape it for your viewing pleasure.

After the first video, I decided to read further on this phenomenon. And I found that this is actually a big thing amongst retailers. They hitch their brand name to these vloggers and through them, they can get their products marketed far and wide to audiences that can run through the hundreds of thousands. If that's not marketing gold, right there and these retailers know it. Some have even sponsored trips and money and in the case of the Fowler sisters, they even have a makeup line in the works with drugstore brand NYX. Of course, with every article that says "Yay!", there are those that go "Nay". There are quite a few of the detractors to this, shall we say, style of marketing. The ones that don't condone this type of peep-show marketing, even going as far as calling it shopping porn and the people involved purveyors of narcissistic values. However, for me, I say to each his/her own.

I feel that if these people want to share these parts of their lives with the masses, who are you to judge. Don't like it, don't watch it. I personally enjoy having a glimpse into the shopping prowess of other people. I'm even going to say that I'm getting quite addicted to Elle (allthatglitters21) and Blair (juicystar07)'s individual Youtube channels. I find that I like watching their videos about their beauty product purchases or their tag vids. I also like that they share their knowledge through product reviews, which are useful in the fact that it could help you make a decision on something you were iffy on, or when they use their product know-how to teach via beauty tutorials. Yes, it's frivolous but it's fun all the same. I mean, they are simply offering their opinions on items that they've bought/gotten and if you like/don't like what you hear, it is up to you to figure out what you wanna do with that opinion. They're not jedi mind tricking you to follow what they say.

Anyways, I'm all for it. I have found a couple of interesting new retailers that i previously hadn't heard of through watching their vlogs. It's a window into someone's beauty and fashion world, how can I not like this? But would I do it myself? Hell, no!

UPDATE (04/08/2010):
Ok, found a vlogger I like even better than the Fowler sisters! And the cute thing is - she's ONLY fourteen! Yes, I adore a fourteen year old's opinion. I found her Youtube page via the same L.A Times article. She's Bethany Moya, an L.A native, who goes by the screen name MacBarbie07. After watching her vids, I think she's very well-spoken and her phrasing as she describes the products she reviews is very articulate and varied. I believe she does better reviews than the Fowler girls who tend to repeat the same words whilst explaining a product and sometimes they come across as inarticulate. Also, Bethany comes across as very genuine and her videos don't have a put-on feel to them which is a feeling I sometimes get from watching Elle and Blair. I just think she's a great young girl all around :) Not to say that I dis-heart Elle and Blair - I still am watching their vids, I'm just saying I <3 MacBarbie07 more.

me and UPS, we got an issue

I have a boatload of stuff waiting for me at my Oregon addy. Ok, boatload is my way of exaggerating but there's a bunch of my new stuff awaiting shipment and I do want them shipped. But they are all caught in limbo because UPS is doing their damndest to NOT deliver the last of my packages ASAP.

My KMart/Sears and eBay spare lamp are waiting on my Vince Camuto wedges and although it's been in Oregon since Friday, UPS seemed not to be too bothered to send it out on Monday. Instead, it's only today that I see the package is out for delivery. What the hell were they waiting one whole working day to do?

Sigh, I hope to God that this Rue La La package gets accepted today and is immediately updated to my comGateway account so I can just get my stuff out already. If I can process them today, I'll be able to get 'em latest by next Tuesday. Considering that DHL does not deliver on weekends. I really want those shoes, I'm even starting to feel desperate for them. Please, please, please let all go smoothly so I can have ALL my goodies when I'm in Homeland!

UPDATE (04/08/2010):
So UPS finally delivered my Rue La La package yesterday and a coupla hours later, comGateway updated my account to reflect the new arrival thus I immediately completed all the necessary steps to get my stuff shipped out Homeland-bound which costs me USD99.90. Hmmm, I guess that is quite a bit to spend on shipping but I figure there's five packages in total (KMart, Sears, Rue La La - Vince Camuto wedges, Gilt - Mario Badescu and eBay - spare Epson S7 lamp) so perhaps that's pretty much reasonable. Since my timezone is about 8 hours ahead, I doubt the stuff will be arriving before the weekend so it's most likely coming through Tuesday at the latest. Which is fine, as long as they get to me before I leave for Workland on Wednesday. I have no idea why the need to possess those Edon wedges is escalating at an alarming rate. And I do want to give my new white slim fit pants a whirl.

watching.....Sex & The City 2

Just finished it and I felt I needed to come on here and write about it. I don't understand how this movie got panned so badly because I found it hilarious and fun and, dare I say, enjoyed it much better than I did the first.

I laughed and I sympathized and gasped and cheered and swooned and it was just so much fun. I love how I am now comfortable with Big and Carrie together. I guess Settled Big is what makes the difference. I was disappointed with the Aidan-Carrie kiss. I felt the betrayal on Big's behalf. And that's saying a lot cos I am a HUGE Aidan lover.

And what can I say.....bad judgment call kiss aside, I still find Aidan sexy and appealing and completely attractive. Just not for Carrie. Carrie does belong to Big now. And Aidan, you have a wife (whom I can't remember) and 3 boys so please don't go around kissing ex-girlfriends thus spoiling that wonderful good guy image you personify.

I enjoyed loose and fun Miranda. She really was a stick-in-the-mud while working at that old law firm. Outside of that, she just seems so enthusiastic about everything. Charlotte is as Charlotte does. Still the same, still trying to project that perfect family personafication. I did love how the writers verbalized her previous struggles to have children versus her struggles as a mother of two. Cos all I was thinking while she looked exasperated with the kids was that this is what she had always wanted. And Sam. Sam, Sam, Sam. Nothing much changes with Samantha. Except for the men she beds :D Ooh, but that Richard/Ricard, however the name is supposed to be spelt, is one yummy man. I swooned when I first saw him, much as Samantha, and the rest of the girls, did.

Overall, I liked it and I really would love if they made a third movie. Please don't let the critics scare you into not making another one ok?

watching.....Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I remember sitting in front of my aunt's computer playing Prince of Persia. Back then, it was my favourite. It was during those days when the rage were games like Beer Tapper, Karateka and Jungle Hunt. Coincidentally, Prince of Persia was the creation of the same man who came up with Karateka, Jordan Mechner. Ah, those were good times all around.

When I got my Nintendo Wii, one of the first games I got was Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time. The game enthralled me back when it ran on Windows 3.1 and it continues to enthrall when I'm swinging my Wiimote around as a sword. So, at the time news hit that there was going to be a movie made out of this particular series of the game, I swore I would watch it. Then I heard Jake Gyllenhaal was attached to play Dastan, I was even more determined to see it.

I finally managed to watch the movie and I honestly loved it. I saw the reviews that billed this as a mindless yet enjoyable hour and forty five minutes of a totally beefed-up, leather-clad Jake Gyllenhaal running around trying to save the world from power-mad Ben Kingsley whose quest to own the ultimate weapon would lead to an armageddon-sized, earth-wiping sandstorm. And it is all that and more. There were underlying themes of loyalty, family, brotherhood, integrity, all good virtues that could be fitted in seeing as this is a Disney movie. I thought it was highly entertaining.

What I didn't quite understand was what people, namely movie critics, were expecting from this movie. And why most reviews tried to attach some political connotations by likening the seige on Alamut with America's war on terror. Does every movie made really need to be associated with events based in reality? Isn't one of the main reasons for watching a movie escapism? Why do we need to find/define parallels between what is going on in the world with that on our screens? It's fiction, pure and simple. Let's just enjoy it for what it is.